


Put me at Ease

by foxymoley, TobytheWise



Series: Content for Change [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fanart, M/M, Nightmares, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:40:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24573202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foxymoley/pseuds/foxymoley, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TobytheWise/pseuds/TobytheWise
Summary: When Derek wakes up from a nightmare about losing Stiles, Stiles is there to comfort him and talk him through his worries. Derek doesn't think he can sleep again after that but Stiles just pets his hair and reads to him and before Derek know it, he's waking up the next morning feeling okay.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Series: Content for Change [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1776139
Comments: 12
Kudos: 176





	Put me at Ease

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cryptomoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cryptomoon/gifts).



> This is for Crypto who participated in Content for Change. If you'd like a fic/art of your own, you can find the information [HERE](https://tobythewise.tumblr.com/post/620120068718788609/tobythewise-black-lives-matter-fundraiser-in)
> 
> The amazing art is done by [Foxy](https://www.tumblr.com/dashboard/blog/foxymoley) <3

Derek breathes through his nose, trying to push away the pain and  _ think _ . Blood drips down his forehead, stinging his eyes. He wants to wipe it away but his arms just won’t cooperate and with a stuttering breath, he realizes it’s because his arms are tied behind his back. 

“Stiles!” Derek yells as a man walks into the room, holding Stiles by the back of his shirt, and then shoving Stiles to his knees. Derek feels his face shift and he opens his mouth, letting out a deep growl in warning. “Don’t you fucking dare.”

Derek’s chest seizes up as the man brings a knife forward, touching it to Stiles’ throat. The sound of Stiles whimpering makes Derek freeze, his belly going cold with dread. 

Between one blink and another it’s over. Completely out of his control. “No!” he screams but no one seems to hear him. He stares at Stiles’ crumpled body on the floor, unmoving. “Stiles! Stiles, no! Please!”

“Derek.”

Derek feels tears welling up in his eyes but he doesn’t care, can’t seem to take his eyes away from Stiles. He rushes forward, not even wondering why his arms are suddenly free, just needing to be close to Stiles. 

“Derek!”

“Oh god,” he hisses, his throat feeling too tight. “This is all my fault.”

“Derek!”

Derek’s eyes open and he chokes on air, gulping as he tries to catch his breath. The blankets stick to his skin and it’s too much contact at once, making his skin crawl. He shoves them away, his chest heaving as he tries to breathe through the disorientation. 

“Hey,” a soft, familiar voice murmurs. “It’s okay. You’re safe. You’re at the loft. It’s okay, Derek.”

Derek takes another breath, this one coming easier than the last. He looks over, his eyes meeting achingly familiar honey eyes, these ones filled with life. Derek wipes at his face, frustrated at himself for feeling so off centered. 

“Just a dream,” he says, more to himself than to Stiles. “It was just a dream.”

“A bad one, huh?” Derek nods his head. “Can I touch you?” Derek nods again. 

He breathes a sigh of relief as arms go around him. Derek buries his nose against Stiles’ throat, breathing him in, listening to the pumping of his heart. He’s fine. They both are. 

Stiles’ hands run up and down Derek’s spine and he sinks into the feeling, letting Stiles’ comfort him. This thing between them, it still feels so precious, so new. And yet, Derek’s not sure he’s ever felt anything so true and right. Stiles is wild and abrasive and talks too much. Which makes him the perfect counterpart to Derek’s stoic and hard demeanor. Stiles makes him softer, makes it okay for Derek to let his walls down and really  _ feel _ . 

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

Derek licks his lips and clears his throat. “It wasn’t much. Some asshole of the week showing up in Beacon Hills,” he starts to explain, feeling his heart pick up speed now that he’s thinking about it again. “I was tied to a chair.”

“Why do they always tie us to chairs?” Stiles interjects with a snort. “You’re super strong and I’m witty enough to get myself free. They’re always so dumb.”

Derek feels himself smiling despite himself. Leave it to Stiles to put him at ease. Derek adjusts, wrapping his own arms around Stiles’ back, holding on just the same as Stiles is holding him. His hands bunch in Stiles’ shirt. 

“I couldn’t move. I was frozen. And then the asshole brought you in.” Derek closes his eyes, seeing the look on Stiles’ face again. “You looked so scared, Stiles.”

Stiles shushes him, making a little humming noise at the back of his throat that Derek latches onto, letting it wash over him and calm him. “It was just a dream. We both know there’s no way I’d let some hunter manhandle me like that.”

“Unless you already had a plan in place.”

“Exactly,” Stiles says, his fingers finding the back of Derek’s head. “I’m the boy who runs with wolves. I know what I’m doing.”

Derek finally pulls away from Stiles’ throat after taking one more lungful in. Stiles’ lips tip up slightly before he’s leaning forward and running his nose against Derek’s. The gesture is so achingly sweet that Derek’s chest clenches. Oh how far they’ve come from when they met that day in the woods. Derek never would have imagined that Stiles would become his anchor, the thing that centered him and kept him in check. He never would have thought the mouthy teenager would be such an asset to their pack and be a force to be reckoned with in his own right. 

“I love you,” Derek whispers, his voice coming out steadier now. 

Stiles smiles, just like he always does, like somehow he can barely believe the words. “I love you, too.”

Then Stiles bridges the gap between them, lightly kissing Derek’s lips before pulling back. But Derek isn’t having any of that, instead pulling Stiles into another kiss, this one firmer, filled with all of Derek’s emotions, trying to silently tell Stiles what he means to him. 

The kiss stays closed mouth and yet, a fire burns in Derek’s chest, one he only feels with Stiles. By the time they pull back, the nightmare is the furthest thing from Derek’s mind. 

Stiles is careful as he lays back down against the headboard, pulling Derek’s head against his chest. He runs his fingers through Derek’s hair and Derek is close to literally purring, becoming goo in Stiles’ capable hands. 

“I don’t know if I can fall back asleep,” Derek whispers but Stiles just pats his head. 

“I know. I’ve got this.”

Stiles reaches over, picking up the book he’s been reading before bed. It’s one of the Harry Potter books, Derek isn’t sure which one, never really getting into those. Stiles opens to where he’d last left off, beginning to read out loud. 

Derek sighs as Stiles’ fingers go back to running through his hair, occasionally pausing to flip the page. Stiles’ voice rings through the room, smooth and soft, soothing the last of Derek’s frayed nerves. 

To Derek’s surprise, he wakes up in the morning, not even realizing he’d fallen asleep. He makes sure to thank Stiles by waking him up with soft kisses, murmured praises, and gentle thanks, content to stare at Stiles’ warm smile and blushing cheeks. 

“Thank you,” he whispers into Stiles’ skin. 

In response, Derek gets, “always,” right back. 


End file.
